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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2016 11:12:49 GMT -5
Good morning to you! It's currently 3AM for me, so I'm off to bed now~ Ezio does sound like an alpha! She would definitely keep the boys in check when they're being cheeky. Great job on the pop quizzes as well. You're correct, Heating does degrade Taurine. Freeze and thawing doesn't. Long term exposure to air would degrade taurine, (or any vitamin/mineral) but it's not as much as heating/cooking. A+ for explaining the Vitamin A being fat soluble. Good job!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2016 21:43:32 GMT -5
Very sad day! Fed my babies some beef liver and sweetbreads, but only Tauntaun ate. Now he is now violently ill. Diarrhea and vomiting. So beef is off the menu!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2016 11:42:08 GMT -5
Very sad day! Fed my babies some beef liver and sweetbreads, but only Tauntaun ate. Now he is now violently ill. Diarrhea and vomiting. So beef is off the menu! [img src="http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h352/JW_2012/Emoticons/T_T.png" src="http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h352/JW_2012/Emoticons/ .png"] [img src="http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h352/JW_2012/Emoticons/T_T.png" src="http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h352/JW_2012/Emoticons/ .png"] I'm sorry to hear about Tauntaun having a bad reaction to the beef. It might be worth trying once more further down in the future, and if you get the same reaction then definitely avoid it in the diet. Lamb is supposedly a hypoallergenic meat, so that would be a good alternative for getting red meat in the diet. I hope Tauntaun feels better soon!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2016 8:51:40 GMT -5
I am definietly going to look into getting lamb organs. My poor Tauntaun is so gaunt now because of how sick he got. But yesterday he was as active as he normally is so I think he is getting better. I will post my weekly questionnaire later, sorry.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2016 9:05:03 GMT -5
I am definietly going to look into getting lamb organs. My poor Tauntaun is so gaunt now because of how sick he got. But yesterday he was as active as he normally is so I think he is getting better. I will post my weekly questionnaire later, sorry. Good luck! I do hope you can find some great non-beef organs. I can't imagine how sick he must have felt from that stomach upset/protein reaction. I also hope Tauntaun is feeling better, it does sound like he's doing much better. It's fantastic and a great sign, Thank goodness! No problem with the Questionnaire, take your time. :thumbsup: I'm about to head to bed, so I'll check in tomorrow~ Big hugs to Tauntaun and the other lovelies!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2016 14:41:27 GMT -5
1. Ferret's name: Ezio
2. Ferret's weight: 1 lb 10 oz
3. Ferret has eaten "X" amount on average per meal. 1 -2 oz per meal
4. Stools on various proteins. Small and seedy still
5. Activity levels: Very active
6. Weekly menu:
Monday: AM- 4 cubes of Soupie with turkey necks(bone-in)
PM- 6 cubes of Soupie with turkey necks(bone-in)
Tuesday: AM-5 cubes of Soupie with mix of turkey necks(bone-in) and chicken chunks
PM- 4 cubes of Soupie with chicken chunks
Chicken feet as treats
Wednesday: AM- 4 cubes of Soupie with turkey necks(bone-in)
PM- 4 cubes of Soupie with turkey necks(bone-in)
Thursday: AM- 2 cubes of Soupie with turkey necks(bone-in) and lamb hearts
PM- 3 cubes of Soupie with chicken wings chunks(bone-in) and lamb hearts
Friday: AM- Chicken wing chunks and lamb hearts (bone-in)
PM- 1 cube of Soupie with chicken wing chunks(bone-in) and lamb hearts
Saturday: AM- 3 cubes of Soupie with lamb hearts
PM- Turkey necks (bone-in)
Chicken drumettes bones cut-up for treat
Sunday: AM- Turkey Necks
2 eggs yolks as a treat
PM- Chicken thigh chunks (bone-in)
1. Ferret's name: Tauntaun
2. Ferret's weight: 2 lb 4 oz (losing weight)
3. Ferret has eaten "X" amount on average per meal. 1 -2 oz per meal
4. Stools on various proteins. Small and seedy still
5. Activity levels: Active, but still “mopey,” NO BEEF lol
1. Ferret's name: Wampa
2. Ferret's weight: 2 lb 7 oz
3. Ferret has eaten "X" amount on average per meal. 3 -4 oz per meal
4. Stools on various proteins. Large and finally solid, sometimes seedy
5. Activity levels: Very active
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2016 22:35:13 GMT -5
Ezio sounds like a perfect weight and I love that she's eating around 1-2 oz. Girl's tend to eat so small, this amount is around average and I think thats wonderful! Tauntaun is a nice weight, the weight loss is normal. He would be losing his kibble fat and firming up with some muscle. I won't be surprised if Wampa ends up heavier in weight. For some reason its always the younger ferrets who end up heavier than the older, well for my guys at least haha! Yuki who's a year younger than Beavis actually out weighed him! Both tampa and Tauntaun are eating fantastic amounts. Tauntaun especially is eating little below average but that's probably due to him as an individual. He's eating what he needs, so that's great. Definitely steer clear of beef for now. You probably could retrial it in the future, but for now and for Taunton's sake it would be lovely to recover after such a stressful ordeal. ;u; You're current week's menu is very bone heavy, that explains the seedy poops. I was going to say to cut back on the egg shell powder, since they're not going to need it now being on bones, however it seems you're on the right track and if you're ready to remove the soupie all together, then feel free to do so. Adding 3-4 muscle meat meals into the week's menu will help to firm up the poops. You've already got some chicken chunks and the hearts, that's great! Feel free to adjust your menu when ever you notice seedy or loose poop. The common rule to stick by is:Seedy/dry poops > Increase muscle and decrease bone in.Loose poop > Decrease muscle and increase bone in.You're currently looking for a new protein for organ aren't you? I hope you get lucky! Helpful tip: Organs tend to make the poop dark and very moist, and loose, so having a bone in meal following it will help to firm them up. Are they all handling the necks alright? Since bone in meat's are a majority of the diet, if you can find other types of proteins for bone in meats that would be fantastic. Some great sources for bone in meat are: Quail, Turkey Wings, Duck Wings / Duck necks, Pheasant, Basically any small bird, rabbit, frogs legs, rodents, etc. If you have any local asian markets you may be able to find things like Quail and Frogs legs there. I noticed you've been decreasing the soup throughout the week, looking great! Here is a great article on Variety if you would like to check it out: holisticferretforum.com/natural-diet/raw-diet-the-meat-of-the-site/variety/I'm so unbelievably happy that hey've done such a great job by getting on the bone in meats as fast as they did. Such great progress, even with the little step back due to the beef protein, you managed that great so well done on your part! :thumbsup: I'm now heading into town so I will check back in later~ Big hugs to Ezio, Wampa and Tauntaun for being good fur kids!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2016 9:54:39 GMT -5
How's everything going with Wampa, Ezio and Tauntaun? Is Tauntaun feeling better now?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2016 10:17:29 GMT -5
Hey! I'm sorry about being slow with responding.
Tauntaun is doing much better, ornery as ever. He just so small now... well smaller than normal, 2 lb 3 oz. I wish he would go back to his 2lb 7oz. Wampa and Ezio are doing great.
Is it normal that they seem hungrier with the raw diet? They chase me for food in the morning, with kibble they didn't care until I shook the bag. Lol.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2016 15:11:51 GMT -5
Aww~ They chase you around looking for food. That's adorable!! It's so nice seeing them so excited for their meals. It really is so much different compared to kibble. My guys do it as well. It's probably my favourite part of the raw diet.
I think it's winter where you are? So they may be more hungrier. Eat more, sleep more, gain little more weight, longer coat in winter, Then there's, Eat less, sleep less, lose some weight, short coat in summer. Sometimes mill ferrets may have a reversed seasons. I think that's intriguing.
I still think that 2 lb 3 oz is a lovely weight. It's not too small, but not too large either. A nice little cuddle weight.;u;
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2016 11:15:56 GMT -5
Hey Machan!!! To answer the earlier post on Wednesday I think, they are handling turkey necks fabulously. They love them!... so much in fact that they fight over them and sometimes hide around the house eating them. I find them hiding in tunnels, under the cage, and under the couch! Lol. As for the Soupie, they haven’t had any in couple days. I actually just gave them some as a treat because it was the last of the Soupie. It really helped when Tauntaun had his allergic reaction. Also, I have lessened the bone-in meals from last week, like you suggested. Right now they are only eating chicken and turkey as their bone-in and muscle meals. Then they have their lamb heart meal. I'm still working on finding other organs since I can't use sweetbreads. Thank you for all the praises about the diet switch. I was nervous in the beginning that they may be stubborn for a looooong time, but they made the switch so easy. They devour all of it, even when they pretend they don’t want it. The ferrets chase me every morning for their meal!!! I open the cage and the all run to the fridge and circle around, then when I grab their bowl they run back to the cage leaping over each other to get their food. Haha! It is supposed to be Winter here but it really isn’t. It is 70 degrees most days. Lol. I am glad that 2lb 3oz is a good weight, but I’m sad because it’s not Tauntaun’s normal weight. Hopefully he will gain it back…or Wampa might just gain it for him! Haha. He is so big now compared to two weeks ago.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2016 13:37:32 GMT -5
You're doing fantastic so you deserve a lot of praises! I'm sure that you will be graduating in no time at this rate. I also understand feeling nervous. I was so nervous at the start of transitioning my guys as well. I think we all do in some way or another because its for our ferret's health. At the start, I was thinking that either Ezio or Tauntaun would have been stubborn to begin with due to their age, but even they surprised me. Well done to them for being so open after a few little nudges here and there~ Now that they're used to eating raw, they may be more open to trying new proteins which is great. If you try new proteins, you may have times where they won't be open to new proteins because some new meats will have different smells, textures, tastes etc, but keep at it like you have throughout your switch and they'll get used to it.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2016 20:05:32 GMT -5
Thank you! You have been a really helpful mentor. Really? That’d be awesome. I think what I was most nervous about was them starving themselves or getting sick. Which Tauntaun did get sick, but thankfully he didn’t eat enough for it to cause any more than just diarrhea. If we would’ve had to go to the vet I wouldn’t know what to do. Glad to know that staying away from beef is the easy remedy. I was surprised by Ezio and Tauntaun too! They were so stubborn about trying new treats before… but they switched so quickly. I remember I couldn’t get Ezio to eat anything but Marshalls when she was a kit, I bought her so many treats that she never ate. I think the biggest push was with Tauntaun, but once I gave them turkey necks it was all easy after that. Today I had them try some new protein, goat. At the market they only had goat spleen and lamb hearts. So I made their liver, organ, & heart meal today. (also using chicken livers) They aren’t too happy with it right now, but they are pretty sleepy today because it’s hot. What is the best way to keep their cage clean with all of the meat juices and pieces? They like to drag it around and hide it, so I find myself constantly cleaning. Also, a non-diet question… what kind of litter do you use? I am interested in changing mine. I use paper pellets.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2016 20:58:29 GMT -5
1. Ferret's name: Ezio
2. Ferret's weight: 1 lb 10 oz
3. Ferret has eaten "X" amount on average per meal. 1 -2 oz per meal
4. Stools on various proteins. Small and seedy still
5. Activity levels: Very active
6. Weekly menu:
Monday: AM- Chicken Thigh Chunks (bone-in)
PM- Turkey Necks (bone-in)
Tuesday: AM- Chicken Thigh Chunks (bone-in)
PM- Chicken Thigh Chunks and Turkey Necks (bone-in)
Wednesday: AM- Lamb Hearts with 1 Cube of Soupie
PM- Turkey Necks (bone-in)
Thursday: AM- Turkey Necks (bone-in) with 2 Cubes of Soupie
PM- Turkey Necks (bone-in)
Friday: AM- Chicken Chunks (muscle)
PM- Turkey Necks (bone-in)
Saturday: AM- Chicken Thigh Chunks (bone-in)
PM- Lamb Hearts, Chicken Livers, & Goat Spleen
Sunday: AM- Chicken Gizzards (muscle)
PM- Chicken Livers and Goat Spleen
1. Ferret's name: Tauntaun
2. Ferret's weight: 2 lb 3 oz
3. Ferret has eaten "X" amount on average per meal. 1 -2 oz per meal
4. Stools on various proteins. Small and dark, oily
5. Activity levels: Active
1. Ferret's name: Wampa
2. Ferret's weight: 2 lb 9 oz (gaining)
3. Ferret has eaten "X" amount on average per meal. 3 -4 oz per meal
4. Stools on various proteins. Small and dark
5. Activity levels: Very active
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2016 23:18:20 GMT -5
So.... Tauntaun threw up this time when I spoon fed him the goat spleen and chicken livers. He was pretty upset eating it, but I don't know if it was an allergic reaction. He didn't have diarrhea and vomit like with the beef.
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